Bengaluru to be fully Aadhaar-enabled airport by next year

Beginning next financial year, Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will become a fully-Aadhaar enabled airport with biometric boarding system. According to a Request For Proposal (RFP) issued by BIAL, KIA is expected to be completely Aadhaar-enabled by December 2018.

Bangalore International Airports Ltd (BIAL) has set a 325-day deadline to implement the new system at the Kempegowda International Airport. Aadhaar-enabled entry to the airport will go live by 30 March 2018 and in another 90 days, under phase-2, all domestic airlines will be roped in to make phase-2 live.

The system is currently on trial and BIAL has given a March 2018 deadline for the implementation of the system. After the 30 March deadline, all domestic airlines will be brought on board this new system in 90 days.

The system is expected to be ready for passengers boarding even international flights by October 2018 and the entire project is expected to get completed by 31 December 2018.

Once implemented, the biometric system will enhance real-time authentication of passengers, improve security, speed up clearance and reduce delays at the airport.

For passengers, the passage through various check points will become smooth and stress-free, eliminating the need to present their ID and boarding passes at multiple stages of the airport journey.

Moreover, the Aadhaar-enabled verification will boost the security with time-stamped logs for every passenger, enabling the airport authorities to develop passenger profile if needed in the future for efficiency improvisation purpose.

This will avoid the need for passengers to show a paper ticked or boarding pass and ID at multiple checkpoints. The process will also cut down the waiting time providing seamless access at various points at the airport.